Bootleg Betty
Bette Midler And A Brief History With Tonys And Broadway
By Mister D
June 7, 2026
Mister D: The 79th Tony Awards will be held tonight on June 7, 2026, to recognize excellence in Broadway productions during the 2025–26 season. The ceremony will take place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, and will be broadcast on CBS, with streaming available on Paramount+. Pink will be your host!
Bette Midler has won two Tony Awards over a career spanning several decades. Her history with the awards includes an early special honor, a legendary performance debut, and a historic acting win that became one of the most talked-about moments in Tony history.
Her Early Days and Special Tony
- 1968 Performance: Long before she won a competitive Tony, Bette Midler made her Broadway debut in the original production of Fiddler on the Roof. She played Tevye’s eldest daughter, Tzeitel. She performed the song “Matchmaker” with the cast at the 1968 Tony Awards.
- 1974 Special Tony Award: Bette Midler received her very first Tony statuette as a Special Tony Award. Late-night legend Johnny Carson presented her with the honor. It was given to her for “adding lustre to the Broadway season” following her popular concert run at the Palace Theatre.
The Big Acting Win and Epic Speech
- 2017 Best Actress Winner: Bette Midler won her first competitive acting Tony Award for playing the matchmaker Dolly Levi in the hit revival of Hello, Dolly!. The show itself was a massive success, taking home multiple awards that night, including Best Revival of a Musical.
- Defying the Orchestra: Her acceptance speech at the 71st Annual Tony Awards became an instant classic. When the orchestra began playing music to signal that her time was up and she needed to leave the stage, Midler refused to budge. She hilariously shouted, “Shut that crap off!”. The band actually stopped, and she went on to speak for over four minutes, thanking her fans and the people of Hawaii who helped her break into theater as a child
Aside from her famous musical roles, Bette Midler has left a major mark on Broadway with straight plays and massive concert productions. - Here are her major Broadway roles and shows outside of Hello, Dolly!:
- I’ll Eat You Last: A Chat with Sue Mengers (2013) [1]
- The Role: Midler played Sue Mengers, the first female super-agent in Hollywood who represented huge stars like Barbra Streisand and Cher.
- The Show: This was a hit one-woman play. Midler sat on a couch for the entire 90-minute show, smoking cigarettes and telling dirty Hollywood secrets. It was her first time acting in a Broadway play in nearly 40 years. She even earned a Drama Desk Award nomination for her performance.
- Fiddler on the Roof (1967–1970)
- The Role: Midler joined the original production as a replacement to play Tzeitel, the oldest daughter of the main character, Tevye.
- The Show: This was her very first Broadway show. Before landing the role of Tzeitel, she started in the ensemble and was an understudy for other characters in the musical.
- Her Blockbuster Concert Shows (1970s)
- Before she was a movie star, Midler ruled Broadway with her wild, high-energy musical concert revues. She sang, told jokes, and played her famous brassy character, “The Divine Miss M”.
- Bette Midler (1973): Her first big solo concert run at the Palace Theatre. This legendary show is what earned her the 1974 Special Tony Award.
- Bette Midler’s Clams on the Half Shell Revue (1975): Another massive concert hit where she sang on top of a giant clamshell.
- Bette! Divine Madness (1979): Her final big 1970s concert run, which she also helped write and direct.
- Priscilla Queen of the Desert (2011)
- The Role: Midler did not perform on stage for this show. Instead, she worked behind the scenes as a lead producer. She helped bring the colorful, flamboyant musical from London over to Broadway. [1, 2]
